Xerox Corp.: The Stamford, Conn., office equipment...

Xerox Corp.: The Stamford, Conn., office equipment and financial services firm said it suffered a first-quarter loss of $254 million, contrasted with a $158-million profit a year ago. Revenue rose slightly to $4.3 billion. The firm blamed the loss on a $400-million pretax writeoff on its interest in VMS Realty Partners, a struggling Chicago real estate investment firm.